Top 10 Best Lesbian Spots in London
- Angela Carlton
- Jan 30, 2018
- 8 min read
So you're going to London and you're a gay lady. You don't just want a gay bar you want a predominately lesbian venue. We understand your frustration--let's face it, most lesbian bars are consigned to basements of mostly male gay bars. Nevertheless, we persist to find our lady-loving hideways. Hopefully this list can offer you what you need!
1. SHE Bar
In lieu of Candy Bar (RIP), She Bar has become London's most well-known gay bar. It's right in the heart of Soho (the gay part of town), right across the street from GAY and right beside of Bar Soho so the location really couldn't be any better and you will almost definitely meet some ladies there, and you will probably even hook up. Their bartenders are pretty smoking hot too. I've even been lucky enough to take one out on a date, but that's another story...Now, the downsides of SHE is that it is underground (I hear your sigh of frustration), yes, it is true that it is another one of "those" lesbian bars. Yes, lesbians like to "go down" but that's not exactly what we had in mind. Therefore, because it is underground and in London it can have a certain dampness and if it is really, really packed out, like at Pride then sweat has been known to drip from the ceiling. I know. But, that being said, SHE has gone to great lengths to revamp itself and actually, when I last went in the autumn of 2017 it looked pretty swanky, with a new fresh interior design that helped to brighten its cavernous rooms with dome ceilings to feel less like a wine cellar or the inside of an airplane and more like a sexy, lady lounge. If you're gay and visiting London then this is a definite must. Hookup Potential at the bar: 95%. Meet your next girlfriend: 50%.
23a Old Compton St, Soho, London W1D 5JL
GAY is a three story affair, with an excellent main floor, complete with a whole wall of TVs playing the latest top 40 music videos that don't always match up with the music, but mostly do. It has an upstairs that is rocking with plush leather (faux leather) lounge seats, windows over Old Compton Street and even complete with an ideally located roof terrace for smokers who don't want to leave the front door if there is a long queue or drizzle (terrace is half covered, I believe). But, none of this is relevant for the gay ladies, as their designated space is in the basement...which is a square room lined with red cotton sofas that all have horrible black and brown stains. There are TVs on the walls too and the dancing that ensues here is less awkwardly spaced out than at SHE. Also, the drinks are hella cheap. Like really, really cheap. Even if you're not gay you should come here to get hammered in Soho and then go elsewhere because you won't find a bargain like this elsewhere. There will be an attendant at the bathroom door that is conveniently near to the basement section, you might consider tipping her as I'm sure she does not enjoy cleaning up the vomit and talking down the crying ladies that I've seen in there too many times to count. Hookup potential at the bar: 80%. Meet your next girlfriend: 75%.
30 Old Compton Street, Soho, London, W1D 5JL
Ah, Ruby Tuesdays. Guess what, it is only on Tuesdays every week. And the party doesn't get started until about 10pm (if not 11pm) and it usually rages until 2am when London stops selling alcohol. The weekly party takes place in the basement and unlike Spain, which is used to such late-night weekday parties, London's working age-group will not be found in attendance. They'll be home having tea in their comfy bottoms, fuzzy socks, binge watching documentaries about veganism with their girlfriends. Yeah... they definitely will be. However, your potential to meet a university-age lesbian is very high here and she'll probably be girlfriend material and then in a few years you'll be at home with her in bed watching your vegan documentaries and cuddling. You will. The club is very fun, the space is great. The drinks are tasty. They even have some lounge booths in the corners with chains hanging from them which make excellent photo opportunities. The good news is that Ruby Tuesdays is firmly and profoundly lesbian and is always a huge turnout of young gay ladies. Hookup potential: 55%. Meet your next girlfriend: 95%.
30 Lisle Street, London, WC2H 7BA
If you're too hipster for Soho or you hate the top 40s music, or you want to go a bit further afield, then Dalston Superstore is where it is at. Gay, Straight, Bi, Poly, Non-Binary, Hippie, Questioning, Indie music lover, everyone is here! They sell food during the day in their shabby chic restaurant/bar with nautical undertones, black and white framed pictures of muscular gay men wearing S&M gear, and the ambiance of the entryway into a cooler world. Dalston Superstore's club is in the basement and it is very fun, and no matter what night you go you'll be sure to encounter something unexpected. Check their website to see when they are having predominately lesbian nights. Hookup potential: 70%. Meet your next girlfriend: 15%.
117 Kingsland High St, London E8 2PB
MINT is the biggest lesbian party in London. They happen sporadically and in random locations, but they are always exciting. Honestly, lesbians all over town get excited for these every single time they happen. And not just the single lesbians, the coupled ones get just as wild for them. Lesbians and bisexual women crawl out of the woodwork to go to these events that are really well planned out, usually in huge, multistory buildings, with excellent drinks, great music and the best part is the whole time you keep overhearing women say "I just have never been in a room with so many other lesbians", just hearing that on repeat makes going to these things worthwhile. Downside is...you'll inevitably run into someone you know. Even if you're a tourist, the likelihood is that you'll see your ex-girlfriend who has just traveled to London for work and she'll be there with a super cute British chick she met a few nights ago at Ruby Tuesdays and then they'll awkwardly talk to you and it will be weird. Plus side is that these events are super glam and you'll definitely make new friends so if you want to go solo this is the place to do it. Hookup potential: 90%. Meet your next girlfriend: 80%. Meet your ex-girlfriend: 100%.
6. Heaven
I will begin by saying that some of my most memorable "going out" nights have happened in Heaven, whether it was because I walked in and the whole warehouse/multi-roomed plaza was filled with suds from a raging foam party, or because Miley Cyrus was a surprise performer at 3am, or because this girl I once dated won a weekend trip to Denmark to see Eurovision there. It's open until 7am. It has multiple club rooms. It also holds live music concerts some nights. It is simply THE BEST. I don't really see the point to go anywhere else, actually. It's between Soho and the river Thames, so if you walk out of it drunk and disoriented you're ensured to walk in a direction of interest. And basically everyone in there is lovely, except the bouncers outside who have, more than once, asked me and the lesbians I was with to "prove we were gay", yeah they did...nonetheless you need to go. If you want to get in for free a top tip is that if you go outside of GAY on Old Compton Street they give out free wristbands to get into Heaven that same night. Get the wristband and save about 10 pounds. Hookup potential: 98%. Meet your next girlfriend potential: 7%.
17 Villiers St, London WC2N 6NG
7. Scala
Scala is an enormous venue in King's Cross which has always reminded me of Grigotts Bank in its architectural ways. It is pretty but usually a music venue. Still yet, there are loads of gay ladies here and once Scala threw an enormous lesbian party, which has long lasted in my little gay brain and made me want to include it on this special rainbow list. It is worth checking out, for sure. Hookup potential: stats not available.
275 Pentonville Rd, Kings Cross, London N1 9NL
8. The Glory
The Glory is a lovely pub in Haggerston that is basically the only sole-purposed lesbian pub in the city. It is fab. And every so often they sponsor a Drag King show, which is judged by a panel that usually includes the hottest lesbian in town (in my opinion) the somewhat famous Channel 5 reporter Minnie Stephenson, who I have hit on about three times, unabashedly. Maybe I'm a bit abashed. She was very polite about turning my many advances down. Anyway! Enough about Minnie. And more about The Glory. The Glory is a great place to meet lesbians, in fact Meetup.com is a space where lesbian-oriented groups have been known to stage The Glory as a good place to meet and chat just have a pint together. The Drag King shows however, are rancorous events that are jam packed, super fun and lively! Definitely, definitely, definitely go here! Hookup potential: 9%. Meet your next girlfriend potential: 75%. Meet your dream girl: 90%.
281 Kingsland Rd, London E2 8AS
Yes, even a small, covert but historically rich bookshop can be a great place to meet ladies. Once a week for about 20 years Gay's The Word has hosted lesbian discussion groups, after their typical business hours. And these meetings are packed with lesbians and bi women, some who have been coming for a decade and some who are brand new but the idea is that they get together for about an hour and discuss whatever topic the discussion leader has set. Afterwards they all go collectively to a nearby pub and have a pint. It's a great place to meet someone queer and have meaningful discussions and drinks with. Hookup potential: 1%. Meet your next girlfriend potential: 80%. Find a book: 100%. Have an emotional breakthrough: 100%.
66 Marchmont St, Kings Cross, London WC1N 1AB
10. G Spot Girl Bar
** Picture too explicit to put up**
Full disclosure, this is the only bar on the list I have not been to...but I have heard LOADS about it and this is mainly why I have not been. I am what is known as relatively square. I like to drink. I like to dance. I like to flirt. But I am not that much more adventurous, and as you might have gathered by the name of the bar, the bar is adventurous, open-minded and open late. It is also in Vauxhall which is notorious for being the gay part of town where Soho-lovers graduate to. It is raw, it is hardcore it is party-party. I deliberated putting a different bar on the list that I have been to called Fabric, which is a late night club in Farrindon known for its gay clientele, dance music and all the things that have been known to come with dance music (drugs, I mean). Do you see that I am square. I hope that translates. If you are less square than me you will probably love G Spot, no pun intended. Go, and tell me how it is so I can update this post more reliably.
10 Adelaide Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2N 4DH
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